• earth shattered heat records in 2023, nearing critical 1.5-degree warming threshold: european climate agency
• study finds sharp decline in spring snowpack due to human-caused climate change
• village of mcbride enters fifth month of state of emergency because of drought
human activities like burning fossil fuels are the main driver of climate change, according to the un’s intergovernmental panel on climate change. this causes heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in earth’s atmosphere, increasing the planet’s surface temperature. the panel, which is made up of scientists from around the world, has warned for decades that wildfires and severe weather, such as b.c.’s deadly heat dome and catastrophic flooding in 2021, would become more frequent and more intense because of the climate emergency. it has issued a “code red” for humanity and warns the window to limit warming to 1.5 c above pre-industrial times is closing.
but it’s not too late. according to nasa climate scientists, if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases today, the rise in global temperatures would begin to flatten within a few years. temperatures would then plateau but remain well-elevated for many centuries.
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(source: united nations ipcc, world meteorological organization, unep, nasa, climatedata.ca)
earth last year shattered global annual heat records, flirted with the world’s agreed-upon warming threshold and showed more signs of a feverish planet, the european climate agency said tuesday.
the european climate agency copernicus said the year was 1.48 degrees celsius above pre-industrial times. that’s barely below the 1.5 degrees celsius limit that the world hoped to stay within in the 2015 paris climate accord to avoid the most severe effects of warming.
and january 2024 is on track to be so warm that for the first time a 12-month period will exceed the 1.5-degree threshold, copernicus deputy director samantha burgess said. scientists have repeatedly said that earth would need to average 1.5 degrees of warming over two or three decades to be a technical breach of the threshold.
the 1.5 degree goal “has to be (kept) alive because lives are at risk and choices have to be made,” burgess said. “and these choices don’t impact you and i but they impact our children and our grandchildren.”
the record heat made life miserable and sometimes deadly in europe, north america, china and many other places last year. but scientists say a warming climate is also to blame for more extreme weather events, like the lengthy drought that devastated the horn of africa, the torrential downpours that wiped out dams and killed thousands in libya and the canada wildfires that fouled the air from north america to europe.
—the associated press
human-caused climate change is behind a decline in spring snowpack across parts of southern canada and the northern hemisphere, says a new study that offers widespread caution of how a warming planet could transform winter and affect water security.
the study out of dartmouth college in new hampshire, published wednesday in the journal nature, cuts through the noise of standalone measurements and models to find climate change has altered spring snowpack across 31 major river basins in the northern hemisphere, including a decline in the large st. lawrence-great lakes basin.
“we find that, in the language of the (intergovernmental panel on climate change), it is virtually certain… that human emissions have contributed to the observed pattern of march snowpack trends,” the study said.
john pomeroy, a leading canadian expert in water resources and climate change who was not part of the study, said parts of canada are already seeing the effects of lower spring snowpack in the form of droughts and wildfires.
“it shows canadians that what we’ve relied upon in our history as a country, which is reliable snowpack that provides water in the spring, is becoming less reliable, especially in the great lakes-st. lawrence where most canadians live, but also showing signs that it’s happening in the west,” said pomeroy, a university of saskatchewan professor and canada research chair in water resources and climate change.
—the canadian press
the village of mcbride, located southeast of prince george near the alberta border, has been in a state of emergency because of severe drought for five months.
mayor eugene runtz said there is a major concern that the community of close to 700 people could run out of drinking water. he said that while the reservoir is now full, there is no water feeding into it from dominion creek, which has been bone dry since june. this is because of a reduced snowpack last year causing lower melt levels. the residents are conserving water voluntarily but without significant snowfall in the forecast, they will likely run out, said runtz.
he doesn’t know when that would be because this situation has never happened before, at least not in his 38 years of living in mcbride.
“this is the first time we did not have a white christmas in mcbride,” he said wednesday. “i don’t remember any significant snowfall after jan. 1 all the way through april last year.”
the village is considering digging a trial well this winter on the advice of a hydrologist to provide water in the spring, he said. they can also truck water in from valemount if they need to but this is very expensive, even with government contributions to pay for the cost of hauling, and it’s not sustainable.
“whatever we do it is not going to be cheap, but running out of water is not an option,” he said, adding that with climate change exacerbating drought conditions, mcbride needs a long-term plan to provide water for its residents.
—tiffany crawford
climate-altering pollution from greenhouse gases declined by nearly 2% in the united states in 2023, even as the economy expanded at a faster clip, a new report finds.
the decline, while “a step in the right direction,” is far below the rate needed to meet president joe biden’s pledge to cut u.s. emissions in half by 2030, compared to 2005 levels, said a report wednesday from the rhodium group, an independent research firm.
“absent other changes,″ the u.s. is on track to cut greenhouse gas emissions by about 40% below 2005 levels by the end of the decade, said ben king, associate director at rhodium and lead author of the study.
the report said u.s. carbon emissions declined by 1.9% last year. emissions are down 17.2% from 2005.
to reach biden’s goal, emissions would have to decline at a rate more than triple the 2023 figure and be sustained at that level every year until 2030, he said.
—the associated press
pakistan’s prime minister on wednesday called for unified efforts to tackle global infectious diseases like covid-19 and emergencies caused by climate change, nearly 1 1/2-year after devastating floods killed 1,700 people in his nation.
representatives from 70 countries, the world health organization, and other international organizations attended a two-day summit. it comes as reports show that millions of people who lost their homes in the floods were still living in tents for the second consecutive harsh winter.
the 2022 unprecedented flooding, which started in mid-june that year and which experts attribute in part to climate change, at one point left a third of pakistan submerged.
caretaker prime minister anwaar-ul-haq kakar told the meeting in islamabad that “no state in the world, no matter how powerful it is, can meet such challenges” alone.
kakar said pakistan is the eighth most vulnerable country to the impacted by climate change. he said while the developed world has systems in place to timely respond to health emergencies, a similar setup is lacking in the developing world.
—the associated press
the world’s renewable energy grew at its fastest rate in the past 25 years in 2023, the international energy agency reported thursday in its first assessment since nations agreed in december on ambitious new targets to slow dangerous climate change.
the paris-based agency said rapid growth of solar in china was the main driver as the world added nearly 510 gigawatts — enough to power nearly 51 million homes for a year — with europe, the united states and brazil also seeing record growth.
iea executive director fatih birol said renewable energy is on course to increase by 2 1/2 times by 2030. that would fall short of the tripling that nations agreed on at last month’s annual united nations climate talks in dubai, but birol said the goal is reachable. increasing funds for clean energy in developing countries is the biggest challenge to getting to 11,000 gigawatts from the nearly 3,400 gigawatts of 2022, he said.
“success in meeting the tripling goal will hinge on this,” he said.
—the associated press
a judge has rejected several claims lodged by delaware’s attorney general in a lawsuit alleging that the fossil fuel industry has downplayed the risks of climate change. tuesday’s ruling significantly narrows the scope of the suit seeking to hold the industry liable for the effects of air pollution in the state.
democratic attorney general kathleen jennings filed the lawsuit in 2020, joining forces with a california law firm that has sued the oil industry on behalf of other state and local governments.
while refusing to dismiss come claims, superior court judge mary johnston ruled, for example, that the federal clean air act preempts the state’s claims seeking damages for injuries resulting from out-of-state or global greenhouse emissions and interstate pollution.
however, johnston noted that the clean air act doesn’t preempt alleged claims and damages resulting from air pollution originating from sources within delaware.
“air pollution prevention and control at the source is the primary responsibility of state and local governments,” she wrote.
—the associated press
we know humans have caused #climatechange, but how do we know?
— ipcc (@ipcc_ch) january 12, 2024
here's @frediotto, one of our #ipcc scientists, explaining this as part of our #climatechange explained... series. #climatereport ➡️ https://t.co/uu8bb4inbb pic.twitter.com/rvmd3gujzt
10 hottest years on record globally were the last 10. it’s not coincidence, it’s climate change. graphic via @climatecentral pic.twitter.com/eyar7imkqz
— jeff berardelli (@weatherprof) january 12, 2024
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